- Title: 96,000 police, soldiers to secure New Year celebrations in France
- Date: 30th December 2016
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (DECEMBER 30, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** CHAMPS ELYSEES AVENUE WITH ARC DE TRIOMPHE AT END PEOPLE WALKING DOWN CHAMPS ELYSEES STAND AT CHRISTMAS MARKET VARIOUS OF SOLDIER IN FRONT OF LOUVRE MUSEUM TOURIST WATCHING VARIOUS OF SOLDIER PATROLLING FRENCH DEFENCE MINISTER, JEAN-YVES LE DRIAN, AND FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, BRUNO LE ROUX, OUT WITH PATROL (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, BRUNO LE ROUX, SAYING: "Tomorrow and on January 1 there will be more than 96,000 officials tasked with interior security, including 7,000 soldiers from Operation Sentinelle (France's interior security operation), it's conceived in the spirit of a mission, that's how we've thought about the last few weeks since Christmas, to ensure the security of our fellow citizens, carrying out missions in places which are particularly busy, the Louvre museum being one of them." VARIOUS OF SOLDIERS ON PATROL AT THE LOUVRE (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH INTERIOR MINISTER, BRUNO LE ROUX, SAYING: "Domestically (the threat) is high. It's still high and we can see today, given what happened a few days ago in Berlin, given that the watchword of our enemies, which our soldiers deployed in military operations feed back to us, is as strong as ever, we have to be permanently vigilant." SOLDIER OUTSIDE LOUVRE VARIOUS OF POLICEMEN STATIONED OUTSIDE THE LOUVRE SOLDIERS LINED UP IN BARRACKS GUN SOLDIERS LE DRIAN GREETING SOLDIERS VARIOUS OF LE DRIAN CONSULTING MAP WITH SOLDIERS (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH DEFENCE MINISTER, JEAN-YVES LE DRIAN, SAYING: "The operation has been adapted (since last year), it's probably more dynamic, more visible than it was last year, but the basic principles are the same: ensure the security of the French people." VARIOUS PEOPLE AT CHRISTMAS MARKET AT END OF CHAMPS ELYSEES VARIOUS OF FERRIS WHEEL AT END OF CHAMPS ELYSEES
- Embargoed: 14th January 2017 16:34
- Keywords: Paris security New Year patrol soldier police Le Roux Le Drian
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA0015F2RZ2F
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Almost 100,000 soldiers and policemen will be deployed across France to secure New Year celebrations, the authorities said on Friday (December 30), warning that the terrorist threat remained acute after a holiday season overshadowed by an attack on a Christmas Market in Berlin.
Some 600,000 people are expected to descend on the Champs Elysees to welcome in 2017 with the annual light display on Saturday, amid a heavy police and military presence to protect visitors.
In Paris itself, 10,300 policemen, soldiers, and firemen along with other officials will be involved in the operation.
France's interior and defence ministers joined a patrol at the Louvre museum on Friday to meet security staff and show that the government was taking action in the face of a threat in described as "high".
"We have to be permanently vigilant," Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux told journalists during the visit.
On Wednesday, police in southwest France arrested a man suspected of planning an attack on New Year's Eve.
Two other people, one of whom was suspected of having planned an attack on police, were arrested in a separate raid, also in southwest France near Toulouse, police sources told Reuters.
Islamic State gunmen killed 130 people in the French capital last November, leading to sombre New Year festivities with the light show curtailed.
Le Drian, visiting the Paris barracks of some of the 10,000 soldiers involved in France's internal security mission on Friday, said the operation had been updated since 2015.
Elsewhere in Europe security has been ramped up to prevent possible attacks.
In Berlin, police closed the Pariser Platz square in front of the Brandenburg Gate and prepared to deploy 1,700 extra officers, many along a party strip where armoured cars will flank concrete barriers blocking off the area. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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